Rothwell residents rally and urge Leeds City Council to hand turn unused centre over to them so they can turn it back into community hub

Transcript

00:00I'm Leanne, the founder of the Pink Ladies. We raise money for charity and do local events and try and raise awareness.

00:07And I'm Natalie, a mum of four who lives on the estate, yeah.

00:11Can you just tell us where we are? It's looking a little bit sorry for itself.

00:16It's very sorry for itself, yeah.

00:18It could look so much better though, but we're outside the Roselund Centre on Jonagart.

00:22And as you can see, it's tired and weary, but lots of people love it.

00:27It's been shut for a little while, hasn't it? What was it used for before?

00:31A community centre, as far as I know. When I moved here nine years ago,

00:36I used to take my daughter to playgroup for probably about six months, maybe a year at the most,

00:41and then it closed down. It's just been sat in this estate since.

00:45And Leanne, what would you like to see used?

00:48Used for as many things as possible. We've got lots of plans, things in place.

00:54There's a kitchen, so we'd like to open that to raise some money.

00:58Boxing's been mentioned, that'd be good also.

01:01It's equipped for little children with little sinks and everything, so that's ready to go.

01:06As many things as possible, the list could be endless, and we're just ready to make it happen.

01:11Whereabouts are you in the process?

01:14Trying to get some answers from Leeds City Council at the moment.

01:17We've got no facts and figures to work from.

01:22We've put our proposals in and we've got a really good plan.

01:25We're just waiting for some feedback now.

01:28The estate want to help us get behind us to clean it, to paint it,

01:32and as you've seen yourself, it's a really good space.

01:35I get the impression that an awful lot of people would use the centre as well.

01:39Yeah, absolutely.

01:41And yourself, Natalie, what would you like to use it for?

01:44Again, there's so many things. I just think the whole community could benefit from.

01:49Obviously the building's got so much potential, there's so much space in there.

01:53We could have playgroups in there, youth clubs.

01:56Which is what used to be in there before.

01:58Services for the disabled, the elderly, training, adult learning.

02:04Yeah, the possibilities are endless really with the space.

02:07It is fully accessible as well, both from this side and the back as well,

02:10for anyone in a wheelchair or walking shoes or anything.

02:13And do you think it's a massive shame for the community that it has been shut for so long?

02:17Definitely. It's been shut for too long.

02:20It's just a crying shame. So many people want it to open again.

02:24I mean, I don't live here now, but I've been passionate about it for a long, long time.

02:28And there is nothing else, is there? There's nothing for anybody around here?

02:32And it's not just for use as a community centre.

02:35There's no public spaces to do anything that we could do in there.

02:40They've all gone.